


you've seen me before, you'll see me again

by moss_time



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Diego Hargreeves, M/M, Post S2, i know nothing abt boxing so bear with me here as i skip all fight scenes, probably spoiler free, rivals to lovers but like in a fun way. i think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26426971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moss_time/pseuds/moss_time
Summary: He hasn't lost a match in all years he's been living here. Until tonight, that is.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 'hey petra whats ur excuse for this one' i dont have one. godspeed  
> title from i'm gonna win by rob cantor

It's a late Friday night and Diego is spending it mopping the floors of the gym after a match. His jaw is throbbing, and he feels a little light headed, but he'd rather eat his own foot than admit that to Al when he asks if he's fine to clean the place tonight. 

He looks uncharacteristically worried, and Diego wants to tell him to fuck off and mind his own business. Unfortunately, Diego is Al's business, sort of, so he bites his tongue and repeats that he's fine. It's not a complete lie. He's in pain but it's not that bad. It's mostly his pride that's wounded. 

Boxing, along with throwing knives, is something Diego expects to be the best at. Because he's always been good at it, always put his whole body and heart into it, and always got out as a winner in the end. 

He hasn't lost a match in all years he's been living here. Until tonight, that is. 

He doesn't even check the name of his opponent beforehand, because the whole week has been busy and the match wasn't supposed to be a huge thing, just another one to cross off the list. It's for fun, to blow off steam. He's taking it for granted, he knows, it's something Al has told him a million times before but Diego has never lost before so his words fell flat. 

He's running late. Al shoots him a furious look as he shows up exactly a minute before the match is supposed to start. So no, he has no idea who he's going against until the moment he sees the man step on the mat. 

It's one of the people he sees in the gym semi regularly. He's impossible not to notice, with the waist long purple hair and the amount of face piercings that honestly make Diego's skin crawl. Sure, it looks good, but the process of getting them might just be his worst nightmare. Not worth it for the aesthetic alone. 

They're also not practical when it comes to boxing, he thinks. But the man in front of him doesn't seem to care. He steps up with the sort of confidence from which Diego can see he also doesn't think much of this fight. He would love to prove him wrong. 

He doesn't get to do that. What he does get is an aching jaw and a loss of pride. Just a smidge. 

And okay, it's not that Diego doesn't know how to lose, he's lost to Luther and Allison plenty of times in the past, it's just that losing wasn't a thing he even considered. Not tonight at least. Not against someone as new and unassuming as this random person. 

The man doesn't look like much, strength wise. He's considerably taller than Diego but not bulky and at first he really doesn't seem like a challenge. Muscular, sure, but so is every person he's fought against. 

There's nothing special about him or the way he fights, and yet he beat him with seemingly no effort. Didn't look surprised about it either. He shrugged it off as if he beats people of Diego's skill every night as a hobby. 

Al noticed that he's pissed, so he didn't bother, though Diego is sure he'll have some comments tomorrow when he's cooled off. 

The gym emptied not long after. Diego stays to clean. A regular end of the night.

What he doesn't expect is for his opponent to show up next to him, holding an ice pack. 

“For the jaw,” he says, voice quiet and monotone. It surprises him, though he's not sure why. The guy turns around and starts walking away the moment Diego takes the ice pack. 

He stares at it, confused but not ungrateful. It's refreshing to meet people who aren't jerks outside the ring. 

“Thought you'd be more fun,” the man says, and Diego whips his head up towards him. “I've heard about you. Expected more.”

Nevermind. 

“The fuck?”

The man, whose name he refuses to ask for at this point, turns around to give him an unimpressed look. It's the first time he's had eye contact with him and he has to admit to himself that it's strangely overwhelming, the way he keeps the balance between being intense and nonchalant at the same time. Diego looks away. 

He shrugs. “Not much of a challenge, you.”

Diego gapes at him. Fuck, he so wants to fight him again. Merely for a chance to punch his face. 

The guy senses the energy coming from him and a sharp grin splits across his face. “You wanna go?”

A bad idea, he knows. He's already lost to him once, in front of a crowd no less, going after him again is a futile effort. Especially now, as exhausted as he is. His jaw is still pulsing with pain from when the man punched him.

But that's his brain talking, and he's rarely the one to listen to reason. His whole body is thrumming with energy and anger. Might as well get some out. 

And there's something about this person that makes his blood boil and he desperately wants to fight him again. 

“Wouldn't blame you if you don't,” the man sighs, feigning disappointment. He cracks his knuckles. Diego presses his lips together. “I wouldn't enjoy losing twice in a night either.”

With that he drops his bag on a nearby bench and walks to the ring. Diego stares at his back as he does so, trying to come up with a response that isn't a punch. The fucking attitude of this guy. He steps up on the mat with calm confidence as if this is a deal they have, as if it's seriously going to happen. And maybe if Diego had more restraint and his body wasn't itching for another fight, it wouldn't happen. 

Then the man turns around to look at him with his eyebrow raised and head cocked to the side and hell, Diego has never been the one to turn down a challenge. 

So he gets his ass handed to him, again. It doesn't help with his sour mood, or the way his whole body hurts.

It's an even worse fight than the first one, for obvious reasons. He's hurt, he's tired, somehow his opponent is neither. Even as this fight ends he doesn't look bothered by any of the hits he suffered. Diego hates his guts. He had never come to hate a person so quickly in his life. 

“God. Fucking insufferable,” he mutters as he drags himself to the nearest bench to sit on. He picks up the ice pack he left there but it's useless at this point.

He hears a scoff come from the man's direction. “Because I'm better than you?”

“Because you're a mean piece of shit.”

He smiles. Diego wishes he could punch it off his face. But he's tried already. Twice. “Why, thank you.”

The smugness in his voice is almost as annoying as his perfectly landing punches are. Sure, maybe he has a reason to be a smug piece of shit. Doesn't mean Diego has to like it. Or admit it. 

Diego tries his best to ignore his presence until he's out of the gym. Just as he's at the door though, he shouts over his shoulder. “See you around, Hargreeves.”

“I hope the fuck not,” he mutters and hopes it's quiet enough for no one else to hear, but if the laugh from the doorway is anything to go by, he's not that lucky. 

***

“What happened to you face?”

Diego has almost forgotten about it. It's the next morning after the fight and he's managed to sleep off most of his anger and humiliation, so of course Klaus would come around and bring it up. “Nothing.”

“Looks like something,” Klaus presses on. They're standing in the kitchen of the Hargreeves mansion, Diego washing the dishes left from breakfast and Klaus being Klaus. Not making himself useful. Being a little shit. All of that. “I'm not a snitch but, sure thought you promised you'll chill with your whole vigilante shtick. Like a bit.”

“And I did.”

“Oh? So you got this by falling down the stairs, yes?”

“A boxing match.”

“You lost?” he can hear the bewilderment and a hint of amusement in his brother's voice. He claps his hands together. “Oh my! And here I thought it was impossible to beat you. What a feat!”

Diego grits his teeth. “I didn't say I lost.”

“Oh, you don't have to. You're radiating energy of someone who got their ass handed to them last night.”

“Why don't you leave the kitchen before you become the one who got their ass handed to them?”

Klaus laughs at that, because there's no real threat in his voice, and he knows he wouldn't. Sometimes, like right now, Diego almost misses the times when people took his threats seriously.

“Worry not,” Klaus pats his shoulder gently, leaning against the kitchen counter. “We all lose occasionally. I'm sure you'll get them next time.”

There must be something in Diego's posture, or maybe his expression shifts, because Klaus gets that unbearable grin on his face and gasps.

“ _No!_ ”

Diego points a finger at him. “I will kick you, I swear.”

“Twice in one night?” he asks, grinning. He jumps up to sit on the counter. “Impossible. What _happened_ , Dee?”

This wouldn't be nearly as bad of a conversation if Klaus didn't look way too excited about this than he has any right to.

It's at that moment that Allison decides to come in, bags of groceries in hands. She looks mildly annoyed, which means Five will be somewhere behind her. Diego would love to avoid all these encounters today, if possible. Can they not let him be cranky in peace?

Klaus spreads his arms wide. “Allison!” 

“Klaus, hi, could you–” she stops when she looks at Diego. He sighs. Klaus' grin grows. “ _Yikes._ What happened?”

“It's not that bad,” he murmurs and puts a hand over his jaw. It's probably not that bad. 

Allison grimaces. “No, it's pretty bad.”

“He got his ass kicked last night,” Klaus says gleefully. He raises his hand with two fingers up for emphasis. “Twice.”

And that's when Diego pushes him off the counter.

***

Al is there when he comes back to the gym in the evening. He looks like he's been waiting for him, which Diego hates. For someone who insists that what he does is none of his business, he sure does love to make Diego his business. 

“You gonna hear me out, or just continue moping?” he asks when Diego nods in a greeting and walks past him towards the back room. 

“I'm not moping. Unless you're talking literally, in which case I will be in a second.”

Al shakes his head. “I know you don't want my advice–”

“You're right, I don't,” Diego shouts over his shoulder. He goes to leave his stuff in his room but does come back to Al, because he might be an annoying old man but he means well. 

Al is still there when he comes back with a mop and a bucket of water. He's giving him a sour look. Diego rolls his eyes at him. “What is it, Al?”

“It was a good fight, last night,” he says, and okay, Diego appreciates it a bit. He knows both how a good fight feels and how a good fight looks, and despite the outcome it _was_ a fun fight. Would have been more fun were it not for the conversation he had with the guy afterwards that left a sour taste in his mouth. And the fact that he beat him again. “You know how I always tell you–”

“That I'm way too confident in my skills and shouldn't take winning for granted, yes, I do remember that thing that you tell me before each and every match,” he sets the mop on the floor with a wet slap. “You happy you can finally say you were right?”

Al shrugs. He's busying himself going over some papers so he doesn't have to look at Diego ad they're talking. This is how most their conversations go. They both suck at this. “Not really. I do prefer you winning. Looks good for the gym.”

“Thanks.”

“But another thing is,” he continues as he puts the papers in a drawer and closes it. He looks up and Diego can feel his eyes on him. “You can't win them all. Gotta accept the defeat sometimes.”

Now this takes him by surprise. 

“Oh no, no,” Diego forgoes the floor and points the mop at Al. “I can and will win all of them.”

“You just lost last night.”

“A slip up. I can beat him.”

“There truly is nothing up there,” Al grumbles and taps his fingers against his head a few times. “I come here to tell you it doesn't matter and you go running off in a completely opposite direction.”

Diego grins at him. “You shouldn't have told me I can't do it.”

Al looks positively exhausted by this conversation. 

“Whatever. Not my business. Just... Learn how to lose, Hargreeves. And don't be too bothered by it.”

“I know how to lose,” he says and goes back to mopping the floor. 

And he's not bothered by that loss, really. Or okay he is, but just right now, he'll get over it in a few days. Maybe after he punches something for a while. Or someone. And it would help if he never has to look at that smug face again.

“ _And_ I know how to win,” he continues, mostly to piss off Al. “All the time. Against anyone.”

“Even Park?”

Diego looks up at him. “Who?”

Al is giving him a disappointed look that Diego doesn't care much for. No, he doesn't know the man's name. But it wasn't supposed to become a _thing_. He doesn't know most names of his previous opponents, not because he doesn't care but because he's shit at remembering names in general. And it's not like he sees most of them again after the fight, so it really doesn't matter. He wishes he could add this one to the list of what doesn't matter. 

Al packs the rest of the documents in silence as he continues to mop the floors. It's only a bit tense, but that's about as good as it gets between them. It's only when Al is packed and walking towards the exist that Diego gives in to the curiosity. 

“Okay, I'll bite. What's his name.”

“Jaiden,” he taps a paper on the wall that Diego assumes is a poster for the last night's game. “Jaiden Park.”

“Bastard,” Diego mutters under his breath.

“Yeah, yeah, be petty. That'll save you.”

“Don't need saving. Good night Al.”


	2. Chapter 2

Diego has never been religious, or superstitious, or cared for any of that at all, but he's pretty sure he's pissed off whoever or whatever might be up there, because the first thing he sees as he enters the gym in the morning is Jaiden Park's back turned to him as he punches the shit out of one of the bags. 

It's his spot he's in is the thing, and usually Diego couldn't give less shit which bag he's punching, but he kinda hates this guy's guts so now he cares. 

He doesn't get to say a word though, because just as he walks up there Jaiden drops his arms at his sides and rolls his shoulders back. “Hargreeves.”

Dammit. “Morning.”

“Not even a good one?”

“For you? An awful one, I hope.”

“So bitter,” he sighs and spins the punching bag between his hands. “All that frowning is bad for your skin.”

“That's bullshit,” Diego says. Probably. He knows nothing about skin care and he isn't about to start learning now. But it is infuriating that Jaiden guessed right about him frowning, with his back still turned to him. Every single thing about this guy is infuriating. 

Jaiden shrugs, and Diego finds himself following the rise and fall of his shoulders despite himself. Infuriating. 

“Suit yourself,” he says. Diego is still trying to come up with a petty response when he turns around and starts walking away. Which is exactly what Diego wanted him to do, so he doesn't know why it feels like he's lost again. 

He steps up to the punching bag and ignores the part of him that wants to turn and look for where Jaiden went. He really hopes this doesn't become a routine. 

***

Visiting their childhood home has become a routine, a fact that Diego is only sort of bitter about. Just a bit. He already left this place once and swore he'd never come back, and now he's here almost every other day. 

But with their father gone, the space is starting to feel less rigid and empty and becoming more welcoming. It's almost comfortable. 

It's also much more of a mess. As is evident by the current state of the living room, as Five chews on his french fries, Mcdonalds wraps scattered all around him and the couch.

It's a challenge to make him eat at all, he mostly lives on coffee and occasionally alcohol, though they've done their best to ban alcohol from the house for Klaus' sake. Five finds a way, however. They're all worried about it but he tries his best to not let them be. _I've lived on cockroaches, I'll be fine_ , he says, as if that's supposed to make anyone feel better. 

So when Five shows up in Diego's car demanding a ride to Mcdonalds and then promptly orders the longest order Diego's seen in his life, he finds it hard to say no. Even if he genuinely doubts Five can eat that much. 

Five can, in fact, eat that much. 

He's finished with his sandwiches and is now munching on fries while holding an apple pie in the other hand. Diego stopped being surprised after the first three cheeseburgers. 

Diego steals some of his fries, as is his right as the person who paid for all of this, and finds his mind wandering. 

Just as he finishes his pie, Five chucks the carton wrapping at him. “Shut up.”

“I didn't say anything?” 

“Your brooding is loud enough for me to hear,” he says, mouth full of fries. He dips one in the ice cream and Diego grimaces.

“Not brooding.”

“Uhuh,” Five hums and shoves the rest of the fries in his mouth. He even eats like a little gremlin. “How's your face doing?”

He asks it in a way that it's obvious that he doesn't really care how Diego's face is, but is only trying to start shit or gauge a reaction from him. 

Diego lets out a long sigh. “Does everyone know about that now?”

“Of course. It's the best thing that's happened in the last 45 years of my life.”

“Little piece of shit,” he swears and reaches towards Five to take his ice cream, but the gremlin teleports to the armchair. “I'm never getting you Mcdonalds again.”

Five hums again. “Sure you're not. So what's on your mind Diego?”

“As if you give a shit.”

“I don't,” he shrugs. He scoops the last bits of ice cream and throws the cup in the direction of the table. Diego makes sure he doesn't miss. Just because there's no way Five would be the one cleaning the mess. “But it happens so rarely that there's anything going on in that head of yours, that I just have to know what's special enough to make it tick.”

“Fuck you, Five.”

His brother gives him one of those disgustingly sweet smiles that only a complete stranger would buy. 

Why Diego starts talking, he's not sure, because Five is like, the worst person to talk about anything that's not a problem that requires an immediate solution, usually a bloody one. 

“Okay, you already know I got beat to shit, we don't need to go over that–”

“I'd love to hear more about it.”

“Absolutely not. Anyway,” he leans back against the couch. This is hard. Diego has never had a coherent thought in his life. “I don't– First of all, I'm not brooding, okay, I'm planning. I gotta beat him somehow, because this just won't leave me alone. I don't care about losing, the problem is he's a mean piece of shit and I can't lose to _him_. And! I have to look at him everyday in the gym now, because he's there regularly, he wasn't even there that much before, and–”

“Just ignore him,” Five says, playing with a straw. “Like I'm doing right now.”

“I can't! It's making me so– I don't know,” he throws a piece of hamburger wrapping in the ice cream cup on the table. “Fucking Jaiden and his stupid face.”

“Who's Jaiden?”

“The guy who– Are you even listening?”

“No.”

***

It's been about a month since that cursed match when Diego gets a pair of boxing gloves thrown in his face as he steps into the gym. 

“The fuck–”

“Let's go, knife boy,” and okay, he recognizes that voice. Better than he'd like to admit. Too well considering they've spoken maybe four times total. 

Diego has been seeing him around much more lately but he's also been doing his best to ignore his presence, and failing, because it's a very glaring presence. Not literally, Diego is mostly the one doing the glaring, Jaiden doesn't seem to care for it at all. Which makes it all more frustrating honestly. 

And it makes this situation more surprising, because Diego was sure he was the one hung up on whatever happened between them. 

Which, nothing really happened, aside from him losing that match and then another one, and he has the terrifying realisation that maybe he's the one making this a thing, but it's way too early to make sense of that right now. 

“Go where?” Diego squints at nothing in particular, fumbling with the gloves. He's just gotten up and his brain is not functioning yet. “What do you want?”

Jaiden doesn't offer an explanation, and simply walks deeper into the gym. Diego follows because it is unfortunately the way he was going too. 

The gym is almost empty, since it's still pretty early in the morning. If he wasn't living literally in the same building Diego wouldn't be coming here at this hour either. Although punching something is a rather nice way to clear his head and start a morning. 

He watches as Jaiden lets his hair loose, long purple strands falling over his shoulders and back, and ties it up again. There's something in the way he does it that makes Diego feel like he's encroaching on a private moment. Jaiden catches him watching and raises a brow at him, and Diego kind of wants to kick himself. 

“You gonna tell me what the fuck is all this about?” he asks instead. It comes out less demanding than he hoped. 

As Jaiden walks towards him and gets into his space, he realizes it's supposed to be a fight. He tilts his head to the side, a familiar motion from him. “You wanna get good so badly, might as well train with the best.”

Diego scoffs. “And that's supposed to be you?”

“I beat you, didn't I?” he says, and Diego can hear the smile in his voice.

“And since when do you wanna help me train,” he asks, and just saying it out loud makes him bitter. He doesn't need anyone's help. He doesn't need to get better either. 

“I don't. I'm bored of punching bags and sadly you're the biggest challenge this gym has to offer,” Jaiden says, looking around the gym and the few occupants in it. “Which is a shame, really. Not much of a challenge.”

“You've said that already,” Diego grits out. 

Jaiden shrugs, slowly lifting his fits up, as if he's waiting for a punch to be thrown. “Nothing's changed.”

So Diego goes for a punch, with more vigor than technique, and Jaiden avoids it almost effortlessly. 

“I am so going to enjoy beating the shit out of you,” he grins up at him. The whole thing pisses him off greatly, but he has to admit there is something exciting about a new challenge. 

“I wish I could say the same,” he grins back. “But you're too easy to beat.”

Morning sparring sessions with Jaiden is not something Diego expected to add to his schedule but it sure is a part of it now. It's fine, as long as the guy keeps his mouth shut he's almost alright. Almost. 

***

One can never know what Klaus' calling in the middle of the night could mean. The possibilities range from him being drunk and naked in a ditch to him asking for a ride to get donuts. Both is bad. You can never win with Klaus. 

This hasn't happened in a good while though, so even through the sleepy fuzziness Diego starts to panic as he sees his brother's name on the screen. 

“Are you dead?” he asks, half expecting to hear a stranger's voice on the other line. 

“Diego!”

He breathes a sigh of relief. Okay. Not dead. There's still a list to go down. “Yeah, it's me. You called.”

“Oh, yes! I, uh, need a ride.”

“I guessed.”

He hears Klaus clap. “Great! So you'll do it?”

“Not until you tell me what's up. What, you want donuts? Coffee?” he sighs. It's gonna be a long night. “Is Five with you?”

“What? Oh no, I'm out.”

“Out?”

“At the club– place– it's very loud here I can barely hear you, can you just come and get me?”

It's only then that he hears the way he's slurring words. Diego's mind immediately jumps to the worst conclusion. “Are you on drugs?”

“Wha– No, no, no. Just kinda drunk. And not allowed to drive. Because I'm drunk.”

Diego drags a hand down his face. Relieved, but still. “And because you can't drive, Klaus.”

“Oh! Yeah, that too,” he hears some shuffling and music gets quieter. Klaus takes a deep breath. “Would really appreciate it if you, you know, showed up here with a car, because apparently I'm not welcome inside anymore for whatever reason and this bouncer guy won't leave me alone until he sees me leave, honestly I think he's just bored– Don't push me!”

“Yeah, yeah I'll be there,” he says, head in his hands. “Try not to get yourself hurt meanwhile.”

“Worry not, dear brother,” Klaus sighs. “I have a very strong man keeping me in check and making sure I don't– Okay that's just rude now. Can you not?”

He can hear a person beside Klaus let out a long sigh. Diego feels bad for them. Being stuck with a drunk Klaus is a curse he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. Or, perhaps. 

It takes him approximately twenty minutes to get there, and he texts Allison in the meantime, because Klaus calling him in the wee hours of the night asking for a ride brings back bad memories and he'd rather stop a disaster in it's tracks. Not that he doesn't trust Klaus to take care of himself but– Well, he doesn't trust Klaus to take care of himself. Sue him. 

He gets there, ready with a whole lecture written out in his head, and gets out of the car. He's never been to too many parties and the loud music coming from the place is already kind of disorienting. There in front, is his dumbass brother. 

He almost stops in his tracks but forces himself to keep walking for pride's sake, so he has about ten seconds to figure out why the hell is Klaus standing next to a very annoyed looking Jaiden Park. 

**Author's Note:**

> ty for reading! i have no idea where im going with this but im working on it. jaidens kinda face claim is kwak dong yeon, specifically his look in 'moonlight drawn by clouds', but purple hair etc etc


End file.
